


Aftermath

by twtd



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 02:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18174689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twtd/pseuds/twtd
Summary: Pippa returns from a semester abroad to the chaos that's been reigning at Cackle's. She isn't happy that Hecate hasn't told her what's going on."That's quite the responsibility, and forgive me for asking, but why are you still at school?" Pippa knew something was up and wasn't above getting some information from Mildred before she dealt with whatever that was. Though she pretended otherwise, Hecate felt things so acutely that it was best to go in with as much knowledge as possible otherwise she might never get Hecate to tell her what was going on. And something was clearly going on.Mildred nodded. "It's because of Indy. Indigo Moon. We've all had to stay an extra night.""Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Pippa looked down at Mildred, though she didn't have to look as far as she had the last time she had spoken to the girl. "I don't know that I shouldn't say anything, but she and Miss Hardbroom were great friends once. Before she… well, no use getting into that, especially now that she's back. I'll have to go say hello." Still, if Hecate was merely catching up with an old friend, why would the girls have to stay an extra night?





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> My explanation as to why Pippa wasn't around this season because she would not have let Hecate get away everything she did if she had known about it.

It was quite late in the evening when Pippa landed at Cackle's and she knew something was wrong the second she did. She didn't expect a greeting committee, term was over after all, but Hecate had yet to materialize in front of her and that wasn't normal. Hecate always appeared to escort her inside. It felt disconcerting. Still, she had arrived a few days earlier than Hecate would have expected her, so maybe Hecate simply hadn't realized that she was there. That was a better explanation than the other one that crossed her mind, that Hecate was sick or injured and couldn't physically come to greet her. 

There was only one thing to do about it. She knew her way to Hecate's chambers by rote now and that was logically the first place to look for her. She was just setting off toward the door which led inside from the courtyard when it opened. She looked to see if it was Hecate, maybe she simply hadn't felt like transferring, but the shadowed figure carrying a broom wasn't tall enough. 

"Miss Pentangle?" a voice called out. Pippa knew it in an instant. Mildred Hubble. 

"Well met, Mildred. What are you doing out so late?"

"Well met. And I'm lighting the lanterns." Mildred sounded chipper but there was something else in her voice that put Pippa on notice. Nevermind that the term should have ended by now. Why was Mildred still there?

What was Pippa walking into? Had Cackle's just survived another cataclysm? Surely one of those was enough for any school to endure. It had taken ages to get Hecate to stop spontaneously shivering after she froze during the last real emergency.

"That's quite the responsibility, and forgive me for asking, but why are you still at school?" Pippa knew something was up and wasn't above getting some information from Mildred before she dealt with whatever that was. Though she pretended otherwise, Hecate felt things so acutely that it was best to go in with as much knowledge as possible otherwise she might never get Hecate to tell her what was going on. And something was clearly going on.

Mildred nodded. "It's because of Indy. Indigo Moon. We've all had to stay an extra night." 

"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Pippa looked down at Mildred, though she didn't have to look as far as she had the last time she had spoken to the girl. "I don't know that I shouldn't say anything, but she and Miss Hardbroom were great friends once. Before she… well, no use getting into that, especially now that she's back. I'll have to go say hello." Still, if Hecate was merely catching up with an old friend, why would the girls have to stay an extra night?

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Mildred winced as she said it. 

"Complicated," Pippa said in confusion. 

"I don't know how much I should tell you, but all of this happened because I didn't tell Indigo what was going on, and you're Miss Hardbroorm's friend, right?"

"Well, I certainly like to think so." She was rather more than Hecate's friend, but they had taken great pains to make sure the girls didn't know that. Hecate valued her privacy too much to make an announcement though Pippa suspected that at least some of the staff had figured it out. She did have a bad habit of falling asleep in Hecate's bed and then having to sneak out at the crack of dawn the next morning. She hadn't been sneaking anywhere lately though. 

Mildred nodded. 

"It's only, you haven't been around any this term, have you? I don't want to get into any more trouble, and if you're not friends with Miss Hardbroom she really wouldn't want me telling you." Mildred sounded a bit panicked and Pippa smile reassuringly. 

"I promise you Miss Hardbroom is still my best friend. I've just been off on a teacher's exchange in Peru for the last term. We've spoken a couple of times by mirror but mirror calls over such long distances can be very tricky things." Pippa tried to be as reassuring as possible. 

Mildred seemed to make up her mind. "Then you know Miss Hardbroom used to be Joy and you know that Indigo turned into a statue."

"Indigo _what_?" Pippa reeled back and sputtered. A statue? What on Earth?

Mildred winced. "I guess you didn't know that part."

"No," Pippa furrowed her brow. "I didn't. I suppose that does explain why she disappeared so suddenly." A statue? How had that happened? Pippa couldn't think of a logical explanation. 

Mildred sighed. "Right, from the beginning then." She nodded in resolution. 

"I think it might be best if we sit down." Pippa motioned toward a nearby bench and with Mildred's acquiescence, they walked over to it and sat down before Mildred launched into her story. 

Pippa sat in silence for most of it. The wishing stars; Indigo turning to stone and then being saved from her prison by Mildred when Mildred saved her own mother; Hecate refusing to tell Indigo her real name; the bargain Mildred struck to allow Indigo to stay. She suspected there were things Mildred wasn't telling her but she assumed they were the shenanigans of young girls and nothing more serious. She couldn't help pursing her lips when she heard about Hecate's insistence that Indigo not know that she was Joy. The story was almost too incredible but at the same time sounded exactly like something that would happen at Cackle's. And Hecate's insistence on anonymity was so perfectly in character that Pippa couldn't doubt that it was the truth. 

"So Ethel told everyone, and Indigo ran away, and then there was another wishing star, which Ethel used to try to save the day except it didn't go to plan. Anyway, Indy came back and she and Miss Hardbroom made up. I think they're both in with Miss Cackle's office right now trying to figure out what to do with Indy over the summer. And hey, Miss Hardbroom managed a super hard transferrence to my mum's flat, so I guess she's allowed to leave Cackle's now." Mildred slumped down as words stopped tumbling out of her. 

"Miss Hardbroom wasn't allowed to leave Cackle's?" Pippa asked sharply. Surely if that were true she would have noticed by now. Thinking back though, Hecate had never come to Pentangle's to visit her. It had just seemed natural that Pippa would come to see Hecate rather than the other way around. And she hadn't seen Hecate at any teachers' conferences either. When Pippa had tried to get Hecate to go out with her, she always demurred. Pippa had thought it was Hecate's intense need for privacy, but if Hecate truly couldn't leave the school then it would make sense that they never went out. 

Mildred looked at Pippa guilelessly, as if she didn't understand the true horror of what she was saying. "She said she was confined to the grounds when she first told me about Indigo. Some sort of punishment for giving Indigo powers or turning her to stone or something. But I think it's over now." 

Pippa sucked in a breath. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go find Hecate." She stood and smoothed down her dress. So much had happened while she was away, and apparently had been happening for the last thirty years, that Pippa wasn't sure what to do with all of the new information. First, she needed to find Hecate.

* * *

Hecate looked up as a knock sounded through her door. Who could possibly be foolish enough to bother her on this of all nights? Were the girls really so helpless that they couldn't stay out of trouble on the last day of term?

"Enter," she called out as she waved an annoyed hand at the door making it swing open. She looked up in shock when Pippa came storming into the room. 

"Pippa." Hecate reeled back. She had thought she might visit Pentangle's soon to finally see the place Pippa loved so much. She had also thought she had a few more days until Pippa returned. 

"Someone has been keeping secrets." Pippa marched right up to Hecate, stopping only when Hecate stood up. She didn't have time to think over it before Pippa kissed her. Hecate's head spun, both at feeling Pippa's lips against her for the first time in what felt like months and at Pippa's apparent ire. She didn't know how to reconcile the two and before she could, the kiss ended. 

"What…?" Hecate blinked to try to clear her head and catch up with what was going on. 

"I've missed you," Pippa shrugged and said in apparent explanation for the kiss before she started again. "Now, what has been going on here? And don't try to lie to me. Mildred's already told me everything so it won't do you any good." She shook her finger at Hecate. 

"I…" Hecate tried to find a good place to start, particularly since Pippa said she already knew everything. Pippa stared Hecate down, raising her eyebrows further each time Hecate started to open her mouth to come up with any way to downplay the events of the term. 

In a great rush of breath, Pippa exhaled, folding herself down onto the settee and tugging Hecate down with her. Hecate closed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. There was so much to say she didn't know where to start. She let her head hang. How was she supposed to tell this story?

"Must I take Mildred's version of it?" Pippa asked. She cupped the side of Hecate's face and lifted it slightly. Hecate's eyes fluttered open and met Pippa's. 

"Mildred likely has the gist of it," Hecate tried to deflect Pippa's interest. "Things the last few days have been… chaotic, to say the least." 

"It certainly sounds that way." Pippa rubbed her thumb over Hecate's cheek. "You know, I wasn't on the moon or something. I know mirrors can be hard at that distance but you could have written. South America isn't that far away." 

"I thought the situation was contained. I– I didn't want to bother you. Particularly as there was nothing you could do about any of it." Hecate dropped her eyes again looking abashed and Pippa softened. 

"You're wrong. I may not have been able to change anything here, but I could have supported you. Made sure you knew you weren't alone." Pippa pressed her lips to Hecate's forehead and used her free hand to take Hecate's. She tightened her fingers. She only had to wait a moment before Hecate squeezed back. 

It felt good to have Pippa there at her side holding her hand. Maybe it would have been for the best if she had told Pippa. But then she would have had to explain everything. That… wasn't an option. 

"I felt very alone." Hecate still wouldn't look up, as if admitting feelings was somehow shameful. Pippa moved her lips to Hecate's temple. 

"I'm sure you did, darling." Pippa opened her arms and let Hecate fall into them. "But you're not alone now." She rubbed her hands up and down Hecate's back soothing her as best she could. 

They sat like that for long minutes as Pippa did her best to make sure Hecate could feel her love, her care. She kissed Hecate's temple again. 

"Mildred… She mentioned something else." Hecate stiffened in Pippa's arms but Pippa only held her tighter. Hecate gave up the struggle almost immediately and relaxed again. "Is it true you haven't been allowed to leave Cackle's until today?" Pippa said it as cautiously as she could but this time Hecate did break away, her body turning stiff once again.

"That is… an accurate statement of fact, yes." Hecate shifted around on the settee. She didn't know how else to answer Pippa's question without thinking about it too much. She'd been trying not to think of it, of her newfound freedom, at all. It was too… overwhelming. And after everything that had happened that day, defeating the Wishing Star, reuniting with Indigo, having the spell reversed seemed almost paltry by comparison. She had planned on leaving though. Planned on putting Cackle's behind her. What had she been thinking? Where else did she have to go? What else did she have to do? Her girls needed her. 

"Oh, Hecate," Pippa sighed, her eyes somehow turning even more gentle, more understanding. But Pippa couldn't understand, not really. She didn't know how much Hecate had given up. And wasn't that the point? It was a punishment after all. One that she deserved for entering the Ordinary world, for giving Indigo powers, for getting Indigo turned to stone. 

She liked to think she had made the most of her confinement. She had decided to be a teacher, after all, to give her life purpose, rather than to simply haunt the hallways in desolation.

No, the sympathy in Pippa's voice was misplaced. 

"Don't…" Hecate whispered as she closed her eyes once again. She couldn't face Pippa when she was looking at her like that. "It was deserved. I did something inexcusable. Indigo was forced to stay at Cackle's. It was only fitting that I join her." 

Pippa huffed but didn't immediately contradict Hecate. "But Indigo has been free for at least half a term, yet Ada only now released you?" 

"What would you like me to say?" Tiredness permeated Hecate's voice. "There was too much going on. Ada and I… we simply didn't think about it."

"Mmm." Pippa didn't sound pleased but Hecate could do nothing about that. Hecate rose to her feet and took a step away from the settee, then another and another until she was beside the fireplace. She stared into it. Things were as they were. Short of a reappearance of the Mists of Time, she couldn't change the past nor would she want to. 

"Leave it, Pippa." Hecate's voice was harsh, intended to be off-putting, intended to warn Pippa away from things that Hecate didn't want to discuss or even think about. She should have known it wouldn't work. 

"I will do no such thing. You've been imprisoned for 30 years. That isn't something I can ignore." Pippa stood as well and followed Hecate. Hecate flinched as Pippa rested a hand on her shoulder. 

"This is why I didn't want you to know." Hecate still wouldn't turn, wouldn't look at Pippa. "I knew you would get…," she pursed her lips, "you would get wrapped up in it. Defensive. I don't need your defensiveness, your protection. I did what I did." 

"And what did you do?" Pippa shot back. "You made a mistake. You were a teenager and you made a mistake. If Indigo hadn't been freed, would you have ever been allowed to leave? Or was it a life sentence?" 

"Wouldn't that have been fitting?" Hecate shot back as she finally turned. "Indigo was stuck here, stuck in her own prison. Why shouldn't I share her fate?"

"Because you were _thirteen_. No civilized country locks away a child for life and I'm ashamed that the witching world was willing to do it to you, that the Great Wizard and the Magic Council were willing to go along with it." Pippa said it with passion but it did nothing to assuage Hecate's guilt. 

" _Stop_." Hecate couldn't look at Pippa, at her righteous anger on Hecate's behalf, anger that Hecate felt but didn't understand. What did Hecate have to feel angry about? 

Taken aback, Pippa stepped away from Hecate. "Alright. I'll stop." She held up her hands in surrender and Hecate let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, let some of the tension drop from her shoulders. 

"Thank you." Hecate turned back around. She looked down at her hands. They were red from where she had been wringing them together. She didn't realize she was doing it.

Pippa sat back down and with a hand motion, there was a tea set on the low table in front of her. She poured the tea with poise, masking whatever she was feeling. Hecate appreciated the effort, crossing back over and taking a seat in a chair across from Pippa. 

Pippa handed Hecate a cup of tea and they sipped it in silence. Pippa looked like she was about to say something several times but she always stopped herself short. Hecate wanted to know what she was thinking but also she didn't. She wasn't sure she could handle Pippa's thoughts just then. 

Finally, it seemed Pippa could keep it in no more. "If you want…" Pippa swallowed. She looked like she was trying to be very careful with her words so as not to upset Hecate further. "If you want to leave, there's a position for you at Pentangle's." 

It wasn't what Hecate was expecting. "I believe you already have a potions mistress," she said dryly. 

Pippa shrugged, "then I'll have two. It wouldn't be a bad problem to have." It was a flippant answer but Hecate didn't doubt it's sincerity. "Or if you don't want to work at Pentangle's, you're welcome to stay, either with me or in your own set of rooms while you figure out what you do want to do."

Hecate started to turn Pippa down when a raised hand forestalled her. "I don't want you to answer now. Take some time and really think about it. I won't be upset at your answer no matter what you choose."

Hecate nodded. "If… I would want…" Hecate huffed, frustrated that she couldn't just get it out. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I would like to see Pentangle's. Now that I can, I'd like to see it." The thought of leaving Cackle's made her tremble lightly. It was one thing to know that she could leave. It was another to actually go, to step foot off the campus. 

"You're welcome any time." Pippa reached across the gap between them and held her hand out waiting for Hecate to reciprocate. "I'd like to show it to you. Particularly now that I know why you've avoided visiting in the past." 

Hecate almost smiled as she took Pippa's hand. "Maybe," she cleared her throat. "Maybe in a few days?" 

Pippa nodded and squeezed Hecate's hand as a smile overtook her face. "Whenever you'd like." 

Hecate got up then and walked around the table to join Pippa on the settee. "You're back early," she said, completely changing the subject. 

"I changed my ticket. I wanted to surprise you." Pippa lifted Hecate's arm and settled it across her shoulder as she tucked herself into Hecate's side. "Though I think perhaps you've had enough surprises for the term." Pippa's smile turned wry and Hecate had no choice but to laugh. 

"I could do with fewer." Still, Hecate didn't move. If anything, she turned more fully into Pippa. 

"Mmm." Pippa cupped Hecate's cheek and drew her down into a kiss. Hecate finally let the last of the tension go from her body as she returned it. "I missed you," Pippa said with her eyes closed. She opened them again as Hecate responded.

"I missed you too." She kissed Pippa again. "I did think about contacting you. It just… it was so much and I didn't want you to worry. Or worse, feel like you needed to cut your trip short to come back." 

"Well, at least you thought about it." With a fluid motion, Pippa slid a leg over Hecate's lap and straddled her, her arms coming to rest around Hecate's neck. Hecate's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. Then Pippa turned serious again. "Was it your first time?" Pippa searched Hecate's face for the answer as a blush stained Hecate's cheeks. 

Hecate nodded as she looked at Pippa's neck rather than her face. "I'd read, of course. The library here is… surprisingly extensive. And there was… well." Hecate swallowed as she turned even redder. Did they really need to talk about this now? She and Pippa had engaged in quite a lot of sex since then. 

"I just… I wish I had known. I would have…" Pippa shrugged. 

"There's no need– That is to say– It was better than I'd thought it could be." Hecate finally looked up at Pippa needing her to know she was telling the truth. 

Pippa nodded in understanding. "Do you think we might… I mean, I understand if today is too much and you just want to go to sleep, but it's been a _very_ long time since we've seen each other." 

Rather than answer, Hecate leaned forward and captured Pippa's lips with her own. She wrapped her arms around Pippa and started to slide down the zipper of her dress. Going to bed with Pippa, feeling Pippa's naked body against her own, seemed like the perfect distraction from everything that had happened that day, everything that she would have to think about eventually. 

"Yes," Hecate whispered. "Yes." She moved Pippa off of her lap, stood, and led Pippa toward her bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> *shrugs* This feels like not enough, so I might write more, but it's finished for now. 
> 
> Comments are amazing and I'm on tumblr @twtd11


End file.
